


I Need a Hero

by Little_Italian_Boy



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, Eddie is a father trying his best, F/F, F/M, M/M, Myra Kaspbrak is not the worst in this, Myra Kaspbrak is still awful, Oneshot, Reddie, Reddie Meet cute, Richie is a costume party host, Richie is also a gay disaster, Tbh so is Eddie, The losers are all aware of each other but aren't close till the end, This whole thing is based on a tweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:40:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22060462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Italian_Boy/pseuds/Little_Italian_Boy
Summary: Based on the tweet by @trashytozier that says "reddie au where richie works as a kids costume party host, dressing up as characters, but then at one party he sees this once cute parent sitting alone and he really starts to hit on him as fucking spiderman".  This prompt just spoke to me, so I wrote a one-shot about it.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom & Richie Tozier, Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier, Bill Denbrough & Eddie Kaspbrak, Eddie Kaspbrak & Mike Wheeler, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris, fem OC/ fem OC
Comments: 16
Kudos: 258





	I Need a Hero

Richie didn’t mean for it to happen, he never meant for most of the things in his life to happen, they just did. He was working at a party for a little boy, he thinks that his name was Jason, but he forgot like an hour after leaving. He was in the Spiderman suit again, this thankfully wasn’t one of the suits with the stupid muscle padding, but the chaffing was a nightmare from hell. He didn’t complain to anyone there, complaining was reserved for Bev through a short text, and he went about entertaining the kids until it was time for cake. Richie was just settling in to lean against the wall and count the number of picture frames on the wall when his eyes landed on someone. There was a man sitting in the corner fiddling with a carrot. He looked up for a moment when one of the kids screamed, and Richie nearly fell in love right then and there.

The man had these incredibly soulful brown eyes, it kind of reminded Richie of a calf, but in a cute way. His nose was scrunched up as he was poorly hiding a grimace at the kids’ antics. Richie shared the sentiment, but at least he was paid, why was this man here? Richie tried to squint through the eye mesh on his mask to see if the man had a ring; he couldn’t tell from his corner, so he decided to get closer. He started gracefully shimming towards the man, and inevitably kicked over two tiny chairs before nearly slipping on a toy car. This caught the other man’s attention, and he was clearly trying not to laugh. Richie could work with that, he would gladly be this man’s clown if it got his attention. He finally reached his destination and plopped down on the chair across from the man.

Before Richie could say anything, the other man beat him to the punch. “Aren’t superheroes supposed to be like agile or some shit?” He couldn’t see any sort of ring, so that was one point for Richie.

“Um, have you seen the Hulk? Also, I feel like it’s my superhero duty to tell you to not swear at a seven year old’s birthday party.” Richie was scared that he sounded like he had a stick up his ass, until he saw the almost playful eye roll.

“Please! Nancy, the kid’s aunt, has an awful mouth.” He gestured with his juice box at a blonde hovering over the cake before taking a sip. “So I’m fine. Anyways, why did you nearly break your neck to come over here?”

It took Richie a moment to register the question because he was still reeling from the adorable juice box move. “I wanted to see your cute lil face up close.” Ok, Richie had not meant to be that forward, but mystery man was blushing, so he considered it a win.

“I bet that you can’t even see my face through that mask, Spiderboy.” That was such a lame insult, and man did it work on Richie.

Richie leaned in. “I believe that I’m actually Spiderman, or Peter Parker in some circles. Spiderboy is something else entirely, and not as attractive as moi.” 

The man shook his head. “You’re such a dweeb.” He was smiling though. “Do you know how unprofessional this is though? This is a children’s party that you’re working at, and I could be married for all you fucking know!”

He did have a very fair point, but men were rarely as cute as...damn, he still hadn’t gotten a name. “How professional can I really be in a Spiderman suit, huh? Also, no ring, so I’m assuming no marriage.” Richie decided to keep going after a beat. “Oh yeah, what’s your name?”

The other man shook his head. “You are a walking headache. I mean you’re right about the no marriage thing, at least not anymore.” So mystery man was a divorcee, not that Richie could or wanted to judge. “My names Eddie, Eddie Kaspbrak.” How was this man’s name as cute as he was?

Richie leaned forward in his chair some more and held out his hand. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Eds. Although I’m hoping it can be something more.” Richie wiggled his eyebrows after that statement.

Eddie scrunched up his face again. “My name isn’t Eds, asshole! I literally just told you that.”

Richie smiled and shrugged. “Nicknames are more fun. Besides, it’s short and sweet, just like you.”

Eddie glared at him. “I’m average height, dickwad. Anyways, what’s your fucking name?”

At that moment, Richie leaned just a little too far and fell off his chair. Eddie got up and checked on him from the other side of the table. Richie took off his mask and gave his best shit-eating grin. “Richie Tozier, at your service.”

Eddie opened his mouth to speak again, but they were interrupted by the sound of tiny feet. Richie shoved his mask back on and jumped to his feet. A little boy suddenly ran over to Eddie and hugged his legs. “Papa, it’s present time!” Eddie scooped up the little boy and shot Richie a look that very clearly said “See, I have a kid too, asswipe!”. Richie smiled at him and nodded, he could work with kids, that’s literally what he did. Eddie headed off into the dining room, and Richie got called over by one of the little girls at the party.

Eventually the party ended, and Richie was waiting for one of the birthday boy’s parents to take him aside and pay him, away from small eyes. He never accepted money in front of the kids, it ruined the whole experience. Just as Richie was waving goodbye to one of the kids, he saw that Eddie was heading out the door. Eddie made eye contact with him, and Richie merely responded by handing him a little slip of paper. Eddie quickly unfolded and read it, before rolling his eyes. Richie tried his best to make a kissy noise underneath the mask, and just like that, the love of Richie’s life left with his tiny son.  
\------  
So Eddie threw the paper away. He knew nothing about Richie Tozier other than he was annoying, dressed up for little kids for a living, and unfortunately very attractive. Eddie had to give the man credit for the amount of patience he had with the kids, he’s fairly certain that Richie’s balls got hit at least once. Plus, it was nice to have company at the party, everyone there had been avoiding to talk to him after his divorce with Myra, but Eddie was a father for fucks sake. Besides, he didn’t even know how old Richie was! It was just better this way, even if he did find Richie sort of funny.

A few weeks after the Richie incident, Eddie was buckling his squirming son into a car seat to go to Samantha Newbury’s birthday. He was a little irritated that he had these two parties back to back, and little Lucas Miller’s two weeks after this one, but at least Samantha’s moms were nice to him. At the end of the day, he was glad that Oliver still got invited to these parties on the weeks he was with Eddie. He was even happier when it seemed that Oliver was so distracted by the nursery rhymes playing, that he didn’t notice his father voicing death threats to the other cars.

They arrived in one piece, Eddie grabbed his son and the present then marched both to the front door. He was welcomed with open arms by Heather Newbury, and Oliver quickly ran off to go play with Samantha. Eddie set down the present by the others and looked around the room. “So she wanted a Star Wars party?” Eddie wasn’t judging, he had wanted a Shera party when he was younger, but his mom shut that idea down fast. 

Heather laughed and ran a hand through her messy curls. “Dorothy and I took her with us when we went to go see one of the new ones, and she got really into it. I mean she’s happy, so we’re happy.” Eddie nodded, he was the same way with Oliver. He didn’t get half of the stuff that got his son’s attention, and it would probably get worse the older he got. It was just nice to see him enjoying something. Heather looked to the side of Eddie and snorted. “We just don’t get why her favorite character is Kylo Ren.”

Eddie turned to where Heather was looking, and he had to stop his jaw from dropping. There, in the flesh, was Richie fucking Tozier. He was wearing a Kylo Ren costume, minus the mask, and it looked like somebody had straightened his black curls. Currently a child was using him as a jungle gym, and Richie was trying his best to glare. Eddie scoffed, causing Richie to look up and grin at him. Eddie gestured to the child on his arm, and Richie quickly got back into character. Heather looked between the two of them. “Do you uh, know Kylo Ren?”

Eddie shoved his hands into his jacket’s pockets. “He was the same guy that played Spiderman at Jackson’s party. I ended up talking to him.” Heather raised an eyebrow but thankfully dropped the topic. She told Eddie to help himself to the refreshments, and that she didn’t blame him if he didn’t want to talk to any of the other parents. That was the thing, he was lonely, but some of the parents here got on his nerves.

Richie cornered him a little while after Eddie introduced himself to the cheese platter. He sat down on a little kid chair that was nearby, but not before struggling with his cape for a minute. Eddie thought it was adorable, if he was being honest. Richie looked Eddie up and down and then raised an eyebrow. “So do you only own polos, or is this your party outfit?”

Richie had only said one sentence, and already managed to tick Eddie off. “I like polos! Aren’t you supposed to have a mask?’ 

Richie waved him off. “I can’t talk the kids with it on, so I just pop it on for photos.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “That would probably be an improvement. Why aren’t you doing your job?”  
“The kids are beating the stuffings out of a couple Death Star pinatas.” Richie’s statement was punctuated by a large whack and a triumphant cry that sounded scarily like Oliver. He grinned and popped a tiny cookie that was sitting on a nearby abandoned plate into his mouth. 

Eddie resisted the urge to vomit. “What the actual fuck is wrong with you, you don’t know what little kid had that plate before you! The amount of germs alone that are on that plate is beyond disgusting!” Eddie preceded to go on a rant about how the five second rule was fake and kids were walking disease machines. He didn’t think that Richie heard a word of it though, because the other man was staring at him with this weird look on his face. “Earth to Richie?”

“Why didn’t you call me, Eduardo?”

“How did you manage to get even farther from my actual name? If you want the honest truth, I threw it away. Not because you aren’t interesting or attractive, just you’re a literal stranger. I’m also kind of convinced that you’re a college student.”

Richie was laughing at this point. “You’re just a softy under that prickly cactus shell.”

“That doesn’t even make sens-”

“For your information, I’m 29, and I didn’t really expect you to call, but I had to shoot my shot. Also, you think I’m interesting, AND attractive? Take me now!” Richie leaned forward a little until he seemed to remember what happened last time. 

Eddie shook his head, but he was glad that Richie wasn’t totally butt-hurt. “I’m 29 too.”

Richie tried to grab a grape from Eddie’s plate, but Eddie quickly slapped his hand away. “You’re a pretty young dad, huh?”

Eddie scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I kind of rushed into the whole marriage thing. I mean Oliver’s only six, but still.”

Richie smiled. “Oliver’s a cute name.” That seemed to be Richie’s quota for nice, genuine conversation. “You guys both have cute names, I’m guessing your mom does too, huh?”

Eddie narrowed his eyes. “You did not just make a mom joke, at the age of twenty fucking nine!?”

Richie opened his mouth to respond, but the kids had apparently vanquished the pinatas, because they were running back to the front room. Richie quickly scribbled out his number again before shoving it to Eddie. “Now you know me a little more, huh?”

In fairness, Kylo Ren was right.  
\------  
“Bev, I’m in loveeee!” Richie was flopped out on Beverly Hanscom’s lap, or at least to the best of his abilities, because Bev was sporting a pretty sizeable baby bump. 

Beverly ran a hand through Richie’s curls. “So you keep mentioning.”

Richie pouted. “I can’t talk to Stanley about it, I tried! He just told me to talk to him like a normal person.”

Beverly smiled. “That would definitely be way too hard for you.” Richie stuck out his tongue, and Beverly lightly flicked his nose in response. “Ben, Richie’s in love, but he’s too gay to function. Any recommendations?”

Ben walked into the room nursing a cup of tea. “Depends, how did you meet this guy again?”

“So he’s this little spitfire of a dad named Eddie. He’s been at two of the parties I’ve worked at.”

Beverly looked at her husband. “He keeps flirting with him in costume.” Richie gasped, she had no right to be that smug. She had known Ben since they were kids, but it was around high school when the two had started to act on that mutual childhood crush. This had coincidentally lined up with Richie and Beverly starting the party business together; Ben would often pick the two of them up after parties. Ben and Bev would use the car ride to flirt, and Richie would play on his DS in the backseat. They would usually still be in their costumes, and one time Ben started to make out with Beverly while she was in a Barney suit. 

Ben seemed to think for a moment before looking down at Richie. “Wait, is his last name Kaspbrak?” Richie nodded. “Oh yeah, he’s one of Bill’s friends. He’s kind of high strung, so I can’t imagine how he is around you.”

Richie waved him away. “He thinks that I’m a delight...he said that in some meaner words, but-”

Beverly laughed. “He’s cute, you two would be an odd couple. Does he even swing that way?”

Richie grinned. “He called me attractive.” Beverly and Ben shared a look. “What?”

Beverly shook her head. “Nothing, sweetie. Has he called you at all?”

Richie sighed. “No.” Richie got up, being careful not to disturb Bev’s stomach.

Ben shot Richie a smile. “Maybe you’ll see him again. I mean you do work in the business of children’s parties.”

Ben was actually right. The next party Richie had lined up, he was supposed to go as Batman. The Batman suit didn’t chaff as much as the Spiderman one did, but it had those stupid plush muscles. Something that Eddie was quick to point out.

“I love a man with muscles.” Eddie seemed more at ease than the last two parties, and it was nice to see.

“Well, do you love a man with emotional baggage?”, Richie asked in his best Batman voice (it was one of his weaker voices).

Eddie laughed, and Richie could listen to that sound on repeat. “That was an awful Batman. And I am a man with emotional baggage.”

“Aren’t we all, my sweet Eddie Spaghetti?”

Eddie made a face. “Where the fuck did you drag that one out of?”

Richie made a little heart with his hands, or at least his best attempt with the damn Batman gloves. “My love for you.” Richie decided to get extra testy and slung his arm around Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie grumbled, but he let his arm stay. “Whoa, did you have weed before this party? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you this carefree, and I’ve seen you three whole times.”

Eddie grinned sheepishly and leaned into the area around Richie’s ear. “I threw down with one of the PTA moms a few days ago, and I’m still riding the high of my victory. Plus you’re here, so I’m not totally ostracized.”

Richie nodded. “So I’m your loneliness scapegoat.” The other man made a noise of agreement. “Normally I would be offended, but I’m willing to make an exception for you. But uh, frick PTA moms!” 

Eddie smiled. “They truly are the worst. I have so much respect for you, just because you have to put up with them and their shitty kids.”

Richie shrugged. “They’re not that bad. I mean, I’ve been doing this since I was 16 with my friend Bev. You grow used to it.”

“Wait, did her last name used to be Marsh?”

“Yeah, you know her husband Ben. I found that out on my last visit to them.” Richie realized how much he sounded like a proud toddler, he had to start doing adult things on the weekends again. 

Eddie seemed impressed, regardless. “Huh, small fucking world.”

Richie ruffled Eddie’s hair, except the gloves made him slap Eddie more than anything. “Almost as small as you are, cutie.”

Eddie slapped his glove away. “I’m 5’9, you prick!”

Richie grinned. “And I’m 6’1, shorty.”

Eddie huffed. “At least you have the height for Batman, if not the muscles.” There was a call for cake, and Eddie started to head towards the kitchen.

“You wound me, Eds!” It hurt to see him go, but Richie couldn’t bring himself to seriously ask him on a date. He wasn’t even sure what to do after annoying flirting. He decided to use his old trick since third time's the charm. “2,1,3-”

“I know your number, Chee.” Richie Tozier was a goner after that.  
\------  
Eddie wasn’t quite sure what he should do, none of Oliver’s friends had birthdays anytime soon, and Oliver himself had celebrated his sixth birthday the month before the initial Richie incident. That meant no more organic run-ins with Tozier, he would have to man up. Richie didn’t have his number, but he now had Richie’s memorized (it wasn’t even his work cell, Eddie had checked on the website, and they were two different numbers). The obvious option would be for Eddie to call him, ask him to meet up, and try to actually know him. Well, despite most of their conversations consisting of jokes and jabs, he felt like he really knew Richie. It was all so strange...and gay. This was the gayest Eddie had ever felt, it was liberating. 

The thing was, Eddie had never indulged in his stronger romantic feelings. His mom had scared him out of that, with talks of damnation and hell. Eddie did have some feelings for women, but they were definitely weaker than the ones he felt towards men. Now, he was 29 and single, so he should be desperate to start something with a man, especially one like Richie. Yet, like most moments in Eddie’s life, he was scared. So, he responded like he always did, he called Bill.

Bill picked up almost instantly. “Hey, Eddie! Is this an Oliver thing, a Myra thing, or a Richie thing?”

Eddie started to fiddle with the pill box on his nightstand. “You know me too well. It’s a Richie thing.”

Bill paused for a second. “You know what I’m going to say-”

“What if this is one big joke? What if we can’t actually talk? What if he murders me?!”

Bill continued the second Eddie’s melt down ended. “Because you clearly like this man, and you owe it to yourself to pursue this. Also, you’re a fucking risk analysis, of course you’re going to try to assess everything that can go wrong. You’re also going to come up with three solutions to each one. You want this, get a babysitter and go for it!”

Eddie hated when Bill was right, but he also loved it, which was why he called him about this stuff. “Actually, Myra’s about to start her week with Oliver tonight.”

He could hear Bill’s smile through the phone. “Even better.” There was a pregnant pause on both sides of the call. “I know you have his number memorized, Edward.”

“Ok, OK! No need to twist my fucking arm!”

Bill chuckled. “I love you, Eddie. Make sure to update me, I want play by plays.”

“I love you too, Big Bill.” Eddie hung up and went to call a new number. He quickly typed in the number, but stopped before hitting the call button. He did like Richie, right? It was very possible that he was just that lonely, or that he was desperate for a date. Eddie loved his son dearly, he was definitely the best thing to come from his failed marriage, but Eddie still yearned for more consistent adult connection. Unfortunately, Bill and Mike lived a few towns over, and he wasn’t that close to Ben, although he would like to be. Other than a handful of people from work, Eddie was pretty lonely. So it was very possible that he just found Richie convenient. Eddie sighed. “I have got to cut this shit out, I should just call him. Like an adult!” Some adult he was. He hit the button.  
\------  
Richie had just settled down with a bowl of popcorn and an episode of Dateline, so it was shaping up to be a pretty bitchin night. He was interrupted by the squawking of his phone (literal squawking). He smiled and answered. “Stan the Man! What is going on, my sweet?”

He heard a muffled sigh from the other side, that was his Stan. “So, I just got a text from Bill.”

Richie stuffed a handful of popcorn in his mouth. “How is Billiam?” 

Stan clicked his tongue. “Don’t talk with your mouth full. Bill’s fine, but he told me that someone might be giving you a call tonight, if he doesn’t chicken out.”

Richie tilted his head. He had met Bill a few times, and he was nice, but he lived kind of far for the two to be close. Stan loved the dude, so Richie was down for anything that had to do with Bill. This was still odd. “You want to be just a little less vague, Stanley?”

“I don’t want to just flat out say his name, but I will say that he’s the only person you’ve been going on about lately.”

“Wait, do you mean-” Richie got caught off by an incoming call on his phone, it was unknown. He tried not to get his hopes up, as he didn’t need that pity party tonight. “Hey Stan, I need to call you back. I’m getting another call.”

His Stan-Senses were tingling, so Richie knew that he was smiling in that soft Stan way of his. “Normally I would be offended by you hanging up on me, Rich. I think I know who that is though. So, don’t fuck this up.”

“Love you too, Staniel.” Richie ended his call with Stan and answered the unknown call. “This is Richie Tozier, owner of the world’s longest wang.”

He heard a quiet little grunt on the other end. “I knew this was a bad idea.” Richie tried to stop his heart from soaring.

“Eds?”  
\------  
Eddie didn’t know quite how to describe the softness of Richie’s “Eds”. The thing he could best compare it to was the voice of the sex operator he had called in the 8th grade on a dare from Bill. Except it didn’t sound fake, and there was a tenderness to it. Eddie could feel himself swooning, which was stupid, right?

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m doubting the validity of that wang claim.”

If Eddie had to guess, Richie was probably grinning at the moment. All he could actually hear, was what seemed like chewing. Gross, but this was Richie. “Maybe I can prove how true it is to you, Edmund. That or you could check with your mom.”

Eddie tried to remind himself that he wanted to call Richie. “You haven’t met my mother, so leave her out of your mouth, asshole. But, maybe I will take you up on that first thing.” There was a choke on the other end of the call, and it dawned on him how bad of a transition that was.  
\------  
Richie was constantly surprised by Eddie, but never to this extent. Sue him, but it seemed odd for Eddie to jump from shutting down all advances to accepting an invitation to look at Richie’s dick. He could hear Eddie getting as flustered as Richie felt. “Wait, shit! That was a bad fucking way to lead into that. I wanted to ask you on a date, but now you’re choking! Richie? Wait, did you fucking past out? Fuck me, I try to ask one guy out, and I kill the asshole!”

Richie coughed out the last of his lungs. “Wait, can you repeat that?”

There was a pause from the other line. “Fuck me, I tried to ask out-”

“No, no. The uh, date bit?” Richie was sitting at the edge of his seat now, and it wasn’t because of fucking Dateline.

“Oh, right. Richie, you fucker, do you want to go on a date with me?” Eddie sounded very small in that moment, more than usual. He didn’t need to though, this was a no-brainer for Richie.  
\------  
“Hmm, I don’t know. You did make me wait awhile, I’ve gotten other offers-”

Eddie scowled and had to stop himself from hanging up. “Richie, you son of a bitch-”

There was a quick little laugh from Richie. “I apologize Eddie, that was actually fucking mean of me, but Trashmouth habits, y’know. I would love to go on a date with you. Do you have a place in mind?”

He had forgotten a pretty big detail in his planning, apparently. “Not exactly…”

“There’s this bar on Seventh St., not the classiest first date, I know-”

Fuck class. This was a date between Eddie Kaspbrak and Richie Tozier, it would be a bit of a train wreck at best. “It’s perfect, Chee. What’s the name?”

“Don’t laugh, it’s called Sloppy Tommy’s.” That seemed about right. “Could we meet at five tomorrow night?”

“Five’s perfect for me. I’ll see you then?”

“See you then, Eds.” Richie hung up, and Eddie immediately texted Bill: 

“I did it, bitch.”  
\------  
Richie pumped his fist into the air, and proceeded to knock over his bowl of popcorn. “Well shit.” He called Stan back, who answered on the first ring.

“Well?” He could tell that Stan was trying to hide his excitement, but Richie was too happy to fuck with him.

“I have a date, Stanley!”  
\------  
Eddie’s palms felt very sweaty, if he wasn’t about to start his date with Richie, he would suspect that he was sick. The neon sign outside of the bar was beyond intimidating, even though half of the letters weren’t working. He rubbed his hands on his cargo pants, and tried to loosen up. It was moments like these that Eddie missed his inhaler, but he was stronger than it. Eddie was a mostly functioning adult that could survive one date with a very cute costume party host, that happened to be male. 

He repeated that mantra to himself as he stepped into the bar. Richie was sitting at the bar nursing a beer. Eddie walked over to him, and sat down on the bar stool next to him. Richie grabbed a peanut and swiveled over to him. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt over a plain black shirt and a simple pair of jeans. It suddenly occurred to him that this was the first time he had seen Richie in normal clothing. “It’s really fucking weird to see you like this.”

Richie tilted his head before looking down at his ensemble. “Oh, right. Yeah, I guess this isn’t as great as the Spiderman suit, but it’s way more fucking comfortable. I’m glad to see the usual polo for you, that’s a nice shade of blue on you.”

Eddie lightly hit Richie’s arm. “I’m also still getting use to you freely cursing.”

Richie shrugged. “What can I say, I’m a bit of a bad boy when I’m not on the job.” He followed that statement by popping the peanut into his mouth, shell and all.

Eddie winced. “I should probably mention that I’m allergic to peanuts. At least I think I am.”

Richie spit the peanut back up into a napkin, it was still in one piece. “You think?”

Eddie sighed. “It is a long ass story.” 

“Did you hire a babysitter for your son? Or do you have work tomorrow?”

“No, he’s with his mom for the week. And no, I have tomorrow off.”

Richie smiled. “Then we have a long ass time. Do you want a beer, and maybe some nachos to share?”

“I’ll take a margarita. Nachos don’t sound too bad.” 

Richie nodded and flagged down the bartender. “So what does a man like you do for a job, Eddie Spaghetti?”

“I hate that fucking nickname. I’m a risk analyst-yeah, yeah. Laugh it up!”

Richie was uncontrollably giggling. “Why the fuck would you do that? You’re already so wound-up, you don’t need to worry about other people’s problems for a living.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, Bill asked him the same question all the time. “We can’t all start party businesses at 16. Is that really what you want to do? Not to judge, just it seems…”

“Temporary?” The other things they had ordered had arrived, so Richie popped a nacho into his mouth. “It totally is, I’m on a ticking clock. I just got used to it, you know? I mean I always had this dream about pursuing comedy, but that’s even more unstable than my current job.”

Eddie took a long sip of his drink. “Look, I don’t want to stroke your already massive ego, but I think you could do well in comedy. If you drop the mom jokes, and polish up a lot of your humor.”

Richie got what could only be described as a Cheshire cat grin. “Aw, Eds! You think I’m funny!”

Eddie frowned. “I absolutely do not.”

Richie poked his shoulder. “You totally do, you just hide it behind that grumpy Mary Poppins exterior” Eddie let out a startled laugh. “See, you just laughed!”

“Because that was so stupid! I take it back, asshole. Besides, it’s kind of hypocritical for me to tell you to throw caution to the wind and go for your dreams.”

Richie stared at Eddie as he took a long sip of his beer. “Are you going to tell me your tragic backstory? You keep alluding to it, and you’re drawing me in more and more each time.”

Eddie blinked. It felt like a lot of personal trauma to just unload on a person, except Richie seemed really sincere and interested. Maybe this was just what you did on dates. “Sure, but I’m going to need another drink.”

Richie patted his hand. “That can be arranged.”  
\------  
“I just couldn’t take it anymore, Rich! So, I threw away all of my pills, and I told her I was leaving. She was unpleasant about it, obviously, but she eventually realized how serious I was. The battle about Oliver was a nightmare though.” Richie nodded. He had learned a lot about Eddie, and he was glad. It felt good to fill in all of those mental blanks. He was proud of Eddie for going through all of that, but he hated how the lingering effects still clearly bothered him. Richie was the same way with the whole gay thing, going up to Eddie like that had been truly an exception. He was happy that he did. Sure, Eddie could be like a pissed off chihuahua at times, but it added to his charm. Richie knew how hard he had fallen, and it wasn’t any better there at the bar.

The shitty lighting only made Eddie’s eyes even shinier. The alcohol was slowly getting to him, so his complexion had a pink tint to it. Despite unloading all that trauma, he was smiling, smiling at Richie specifically. He was beautiful in every sense of the word. Richie couldn’t stand it any longer. He leaned into Eddie but paused by his ear. “How allergic to peanuts are you again?”

Eddie immediately caught his meaning. “I mean, you didn’t bite into it. So, I should probably be fine. I don’t really like those odds, but I can be persuaded.”

Richie leaned in, he didn’t know where his confidence was coming from. Probably the beer. “I think I can persuade you.”

Eddie bit his lip. “Is here the place?”

Richie locked eyes with Eddie and grinned. “This is totally a gay bar, Eds.”

Eddie looked around in surprise. “It really fucking is. Get over here then, man.” Richie didn’t have to be told twice. His lips met Eddie, and it was like the mild sexual tension between them had finally crescendo-ed. Richie was really hoping that Eddie was like this when he wasn’t sort of buzzed, something told him that he was. It really escalated from there, but Eddie eventually pulled back for air. “Wow, I need more alcohol.”

Richie frowned. “That bad?”

Eddie shook his head and laughed. “No, that was fucking awesome. I just want to keep riding this feeling.”

Richie slung his arm over Eddie, and Eddie let him. “I fully agree.”  
\------  
Eddie was totally fucking wasted. They ordered a plethora of drinks and a second order of nachos. He felt kind of bad for whoever got stuck dealing with their bullshit. At some point, Richie mentioned karaoke, and it sounded like a great idea to Eddie. They managed to get through “Anyway You Want It”, “Boys of Summer”, and ‘Just Give Me a Reason” before they got kicked off the stage. Richie looked as wasted as Eddie felt, and the two were sitting on the curb outside after paying off their tab. Eddie was snuggled into Richie, and he would have liked to stay there. Richie lightly tapped him. “Eds, we should go back to my place.”

Eddie hummed. “Too drunk to drive.”

Richie ran his hand through Eddie’s hair. “I took an Uber here.”

Eddie frowned. “I drove here.” 

Richie also frowned until he seemed to get an idea. “I’ll call Ben and Bev. Ben can drive Bev here, and Bev can take your car back to my place.”

Eddie smiled. “You’re really smart, and really pretty.”

Richie kissed his head. “Save it for my bedroom.”

“I don’t want to do that tonight.”

Richie was attempting to text Beverly. “That’s alright, we can just cuddle.”  
\------  
Beverly and Ben arrived ten minutes later. Ben took one look at the two drunk men on the sidewalk, and wished his wife luck. He promised to follow her to Richie’s place. Beverly stood in front of the two men. “You are so lucky I love you, Tozier.”

Richie smiled. “Bevvy! You came!”

Beverly shook her head before offering a hand to Richie. “I had to, the spelling in your text was even worse than your normal shitty spelling.”

Richie took it and shakily got up. “Touche.” He offered a hand to Eddie, who stumbled before fully standing.

Eddie handed Beverly his keys. “Hi, Beverly.”

“Hi, Eddie. How are you feeling?”

“Shouldn’t I ask you that? You look very...pregnant.”

Beverly held back a laugh. “You got me there. I’m fine, just a little annoyed that I got a drunk text from Trashmouth.”

Richie whined. “Bevvy, I’m sorry!”

Beverly shook her head. “You owe me a muffin basket.” Eventually they figured out which car was Eddie’s, and they all piled in. Beverly drove to Richie’s house and pretended not to notice how handsey the two of them were getting back there. She knew that Richie had done the same for her.  
\------  
“Richard!” Eddie loved his boyfriend dearly, he really did. In this specific moment, that was not the case. His son’s birthday party was supposed to start in 15 minutes, and he still had no clue where half the refreshments were. Plus, Myra was coming to this thing. Not that he was fond of his ex-wife, but he wanted her to have a better impression of Richie than the Christmas incident. 

Richie finally came running with two reusable shopping bags, filled to the brim. “I have juice boxes, tiny water bottles, milk cartons, those applesauce fuckers, and some kind of yogurt drink. Is that good?” Eddie would laugh at how concerned Richie was, if he wasn’t mid-freak out. 

Eddie kissed his boyfriend quickly before gesturing to an ice chest. “It’ll do, put them over there.”

Richie quickly complied, but turned back to Eddie. “I don’t see why I can’t dress up as Superman for Oliver. He _loves_ Superman, Eds!”

Eddie shook his head and grabbed the pinata. “I’m not having you work at my son’s birthday!”

Stan took a break from blowing up balloons to laugh. “Just let him, Eddie. He’s not going to stop bitching otherwise.” Sometime in the past year, Eddie had obtained a large group of friends. They finally all got together properly, at first in a group chat and then in real life, to form a group of seven. Bill, Ben, Beverly, Stan, Mike, Richie, and him. They just clicked once they were all together. Between that, his son, and his relationship with Richie, he felt whole. Sure, he still freaked out about the little things, Myra was still a pain, and his job kind of sucked, but he was happy. Usually, again he was currently dealing with the birthday party from hell.

Beverly walked in bouncing a little ginger baby. “Stan, if you give in then he always wins. He’s like a dog, you have to train him.” She handed Eddie a streamer roll. “Here’s the leftovers.”

Eddie thanked Bev right as Richie let out an offended, “I’m right here, guys!”

Bill and Mike walked in carrying presents. “Anything that involves Richie wearing a leotard, I’m so down for”, Mike added.

Ben carefully sat down the cake, adorned with a large seven. “Let’s not scar the children, shall we? Besides, Richie shouldn’t have to work for this party.”

Richie sighed. “I’ve worn Superman before, it’s not that bad! If anything, Eduardo isn’t letting me because he doesn’t want me to be stolen away.”

Eddie checked the level of ice in the ice chest. “At this point, I would pay them to relieve me of you.”

Richie hugged him from behind. “You don’t mean that. Also, stop worrying. It will be perfect, even if I don’t get to perform.”

Eddie sighed. “No, I don’t. I know, it's just that I'm going to stress till the last goodie bag is passed out.”

Bill patted him on the shoulder. “And we’ll help you get to that point, so we can all celebrate afterwards.”

Richie opened his mouth, probably to make a point about how he can help with Superman, but Eddie shut him up with a kiss. “No, now come on. We have a fucking birthday party to throw.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was a doozy to type, but I enjoyed it. Huge thanks to everyone on Instagram who asked for the link when I mentioned potentially writing this, y'all fueled me to do this. Maybe somebody beat me to the punch for this, but oh well. Also, the songs that they sing during karaoke are based on the It musical soundtrack. Thanks for reading!


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